An integrated service and network management system for MPLS traffic engineering and VPN services

MPLS technology has recently been widely adopted, not only in large-scale IP backbones, but in metro and enterprise networks as well. Among the merits of MPLS, effective and efficient support of TE (traffic engineering) and VPN (virtual private network) services is the most influential factor that has facilitated the diffusion of the technology. However, although MPLS itself has become a currently operational technology, issues regarding the management of various services that are built on top of individually operating MPLS capable network elements have not been well identified or solved. These service level management issues arise, not only under heterogeneous conditions, but even when the target network is homogeneously composed. The paper discusses the requirements and architectural aspects of an integrated service management system for MPLS TE and VPN services. The discussion encompasses fault and performance management issues and information models which should be flexible to support newer services that can be rendered by merging TE, VPN, and QoS technologies. We also examine performance, fault tolerance, and scalability issues that cannot be neglected when such systems are deployed in a real-world environment.